Amelia is a town and comune located in central Italy which is part of the province of Terni. The city is located in Umbria not far from the border with Lazio.
Etymology Amelia was known in antiquity by several names. It was called Αμερία and also Αμέριον by Stephanus of Byzantium, and Ameria by the Romans.
History Antiquity According to Cato, the city was founded 964 years before the Third Macedonian War, corresponding to 1135 BC. Although this date cannot be assigned certain historical value, it attests to the great antiquity attributed to the city. Remains of its ancient walls, constructed in the polygonal or Pelasgian style, testify to its power in very remote times.
Some scholars attribute Amelia's origins to the Umbri or to the Aborigines. Another tradition, associated with Pliny the Younger, places its foundation in 1136 BC and ascribes it either to Amisio, said to be a king of the Aborigines, or to Amelia, presented as a supposed princess of Veii. The city later came under Etruscan influence.
A key stage in the town's development came in 240 BC with the opening of the Via Amerina. This road provided a direct route between Rome and Umbria through Faliscan and Etruscan territory. Around this time, the town began to take on an urban form.
During the wars against Hannibal, troops from Amelia under Piso fought to oppose Hannibal's advance. In the Roman period Amelia was a prosperous Roman municipium, enrolled in the Clustumina tribe.
The name Ameria does not appear during the wars of Rome against the Umbrians and is first encountered in the time of Cicero. Cicero repeatedly mentioned the city in his defense of Sextus Roscius, who had been born in Ameria, referring to it as a flourishing municipality whose fertile territory, rich in fruit and willow plants, extended to the Tiber.
Under Augustus its lands were divided among veterans, although the city did not receive the title of colony.
The Tabula Peutingeriana marks a road that branched from the Via Clodia at Baccano, passed through Nepi and Falerii, reached Ameria, and from there continued to Todi. This road corresponds to the Via Amerina, also known from inscriptions.
Amelia is said to have had many early Christian communities. It is recorded as a bishop's seat from the 4th century, and the diocese is dated to around 344. Among the candidates named as earliest bishops of Amelia are Ortodolfo, Ilario, and Mauro. A Roman council was held in Amelia in the year 415.
At a later stage the city was destroyed by the Goths.
Middle Ages Under Pope Gregory II the city, freed from obedience to Leo the Isaurian, was placed under the Roman Church. In 731 Liutprand, king of the Lombards, seized the city, and although compelled to withdraw his forces from the lands of the Church and retreat to Pavia, he retained possession of Amelia and other Umbrian cities. Pope Zachary later recovered these territories for the Church. The city was one of the sixteen that formed the Duchy of Rome.
Pope Leo IV fortified Amelia and Orte against Saracen incursions.
The date at which Amelia became a self-governing city is stated to be unknown. In 1065 it fought alongside Todi and Foligno against Perugia, Orvieto, and Gubbio. Around this period it was ruled by consuls elected from the leading citizens.
In 1208 a peace agreement with Todi was concluded in front of the Abbey of San Secondo in Amelia. Todi interpreted the agreement as an act of submission, and efforts to control Amelia are described as recurring, linked to traffic along the Via Amerina.
In 1240 Amelia was sacked by the troops of Frederick II. After this, a decline is said to have begun, with Amelia drawn into Guelph–Ghibelline conflicts and with continued attempts by Todi to assert supremacy. In 1330 the city adopted municipal statutes.
In the fortress of Amelia Pope Urban VI imprisoned Cardinal as punishment for having stirred up a sedition in Viterbo against the new papal legate. At the request of certain princes, Orsini was later released.
In the mid-14th century Amelia’s policy was influenced by Cardinal Gil Albornoz, who lifted various obligations that Amelia owed to Todi. In the late 14th and early 15th century Amelia suffered famine, worsened by taxes from Rome and by extortion by mercenary captains. Under Pope Martin V, privileges were confirmed and a recovery began.
In 1476, following a severe pestilence, Pope Sixtus IV took refuge in Amelia accompanied by six cardinals and was received as a guest by the noble Giraldini family, who later placed a commemorative inscription on the façade of their palace in memory of the event.
Early Modern and Contemporary era
In its later history Amelia was tied entirely to the Papal States. In 1595 Antonio Maria Graziani, bishop of Amelia, held a diocesan synod in the city in which, among other matters, carnival festivities were condemned.
In the Napoleonic era it was raised to a canton in the Todi district, within the Department of Trasimeno, whose capital was at Spoleto. In 1816 Amelia was classed as a community with a resident governor and placed in the Delegation of Spoleto.
In the mid-19th century the city had 6,124 inhabitants. Of these, 2,289 resided within the city and 3,835 lived in the numerous rural hamlets of the countryside.
In 1848–1849 many volunteers from Amelia took part in the Roman Republic uprisings, and in 1859 local patriots joined insurrectionary movements. On 21 September 1860 Piedmontese troops under General entered Amelia, and the city became part of the new unified state.
In 1876 Porchiano del Monte, formerly an independent municipality, became a subdivision of Amelia.
Geography
Amelia is situated from Terni and from Narni on the slope of a hill at an elevation of about above sea level, between the valley of the Tiber and that of the Nera, not far from the point where these rivers meet. The town occupies a position with a difference in elevation of about across the settlement.
Near the town is the Lago Vecchio ("Old Lake") formed by a dam on a small river, the Rio Grande. Rowing boats can be rented to come around in the shade of alder, poplar and willow trees, looking for sometimes surprised ducks and herons. There is a small park called , a former horse racing track, with a walking — or jogging — path around the track, now used for weekend dances and social gatherings.
Subdivisions The municipality includes the localities of Amelia, Archileggi, Casetta, Collicello, Foce, Fornaci, Fornole, Macchie, Montecampano, Montenero, Porchiano, Sambucetole, Santa Maria, Testa di Lepre.
In 2021, 2,922 people lived in rural dispersed dwellings not assigned to any named locality. At the time, most of the population lived in Amelia proper (5,842), and Fornole (1,215).
Montecampano lies from the city and takes its name from its position on a mountain with an extensive outlook that from a distance resembles a large plain.
Foce lies about from Amelia on a steep and rugged hill with a wide horizon, and is surrounded by extensive forests.
Fornole stands on a small hill with an open outlook toward the west and south. Near Fornole runs the Cammartano stream, crossed by a bridge. Fornole is home to the Romanesque church of San Silvestro, with an interesting fresco cycle showing the saint freeing the town from the grasp of a dragon.
The village of Porchiano del Monte has Medieval walls featuring a number of guard towers, and a small Romanesque church, San Simeone. The church of S. Timoteo, also Romanesque, has 14th- and 15th-century frescoes.
Economy In the mid-19th century the surrounding territory was described as fertile, yielding abundant grain and maize, wine, oil, and various fruits. Almonds were produced, as well as the abundant pizzutello grape and other select varieties of grapes. Large woodlands served as pasture for numerous herds of swine that were exported abroad. The cultivation of silkworms and bees was well developed. The area was known for the preparation of dried plums and particularly fine dried figs. Potash was also manufactured.
Dried figs Amelia is associated with the production of dried figs, known since antiquity. In the Middle Ages the inhabitants were said to deliver annually to the pope "centum pignatuli ficuum", or one hundred small pots of figs.
A local confection known as Fichi Girotti consists of dried figs filled with chocolate and dried fruit. The product has been manufactured by the Girotti family since 1830. The figs are prepared by selecting dried figs and filling them with almonds, walnuts, candied fruit and cocoa before pressing them into their characteristic wheel‑shaped form.
Religion Cathedral
The cathedral was erected in 872. A major fire in 1629 destroyed the earlier structure, after which it was rebuilt in Baroque forms. The façade, completed in the 19th century, is constructed of pinkish brick.
The interior contains paintings by Federico Zuccari, Giovanni Francesco Perini, and Niccolò Pomarancio. A gabled panel painting of the Sienese school was long attributed to Duccio di Buoninsegna and later to a local painter. Another panel depicting the Madonna and Child is attributed to Antoniazzo Romano.
The octagonal Chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento dates to the 16th century and contains a panel attributed to Taddeo Zuccari, as well as marble monuments to the bishops Bartolomeo and Baldo Farrattini, the latter executed by the Orvietan sculptor Ippolito Scalza. The walls are frescoed by Luigi Fontana. The cathedral also contains sculptures by Agostino di Duccio, Ippolito Scalza and Dosio. The baptismal font is in Renaissance style and includes a small marble statue of Saint John the Baptist associated with the school of Donatello. Beneath the altar are preserved the bodies of the patron saints of Amelia, Saint Fermina and Saint Olympias.
On the wall to the left of the altar is displayed a copy of the Croce dell’Evangelizzazione, originally blessed and raised in 1514 by Bishop Alessandro Geraldini, the first bishop to arrive on the island of Hispaniola. Two organs are preserved in the cathedral: a large instrument built in 1904 by Rieger Orgelbau within an 18th‑century case in the presbytery, and a 17th‑century wing organ that has been restored.
The bell tower was erected in 1050 and incorporates various ancient sculptures reused as building material. The middle bell dates to the time of Henry III. Beneath the tower run very ancient underground passages extending eastward from north to south and branching in various places into large chambers; toward the south they emerge about outside the city.
San Francesco
The church of San Francesco was founded in 1287 by Friar and was originally dedicated to Saints Philip and James. Construction work between 1401 and 1406 was carried out by Umbrian craftsmen, including Menucci of Amelia and Giovanni di Nicola of Castel dell'Aquila. In 1447 the bell tower was built by the Lombard masters Francesco and Guglielmo.
The church underwent modifications between the 16th and 17th centuries to construct the choir loft and to alter the lighting of the apse and nave. Further reconstruction took place in the 18th century, when the windows were raised above the original roofline. In 1942 the building was altered by the Salesians, when the convent was converted into a boarding school.
The exterior retains Late Romanesque forms with Gothic influences, particularly along the sides and the apse wall. The façade, built of travertine blocks, dates to 1401 and is divided by a dentilled cornice. The upper section contains a double concentric rose window and a decorative band of lobed arches forming the gable. The portal incorporates elements inserted during later modifications. The bell tower collapsed in the 1915 earthquake and was rebuilt in 1932.